


Si vis pacem para bellum

by Whedonista93



Series: English Rose [2]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Brethren Court (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:28:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 8,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25791367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whedonista93/pseuds/Whedonista93
Summary: If you want peace, prepare for war.What if everyone worked together, instead of trying to achieve their own ends?
Relationships: Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner, James Norrington/Original Female Character(s)
Series: English Rose [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860733
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34





	1. The Song

_ The king and his men _

_ Stole the queen from her bed _

_ And bound her in her bones _

_ The seas be ours _

_ And by the powers _

_ Where we will, we’ll roam _

_ Yo ho _

_ All hands _

_ Hoist the colors high _

_ Heave ho _

_ Thieves and beggars _

_ Never shall we die _

_ Yo ho _

_ Haul together _

_ Hoist the colors high _

_ Heave ho _

_ Thieves and beggars _

_ Never shall we die _


	2. Elizabeth

_Some have died_

_And some are alive_

_Others sail on the sea_

_With the keys to the cage_

_And the devil to pay_

_We lay to Fiddler’s Green_

_The bell has been raised_

_From its watery grave_

_Hear it’s sepulchral tone_

_A call to all_

_Pay heed the squall_

_Turn you sails to home_

_Yo ho_

_Haul together_

_Hoist the colors high_

_Heave ho_

_Thief and beggar_

_Never shall we die_

As Elizabeth stands in Sao Feng’s hall in naught but her shirt, with Will’s life on the line, she can’t help but think that Rose lost the plot of her plan at some point… though if she’s honest, that’s an uncharitable thought. Giving Jack up to Jones to save the rest of them, and using Jones’ heart to get close to Beckett had been the extent of the plan. No one had considered that getting Jack back was an option - and if they had, they hadn’t told Elizabeth - and the remaining portion of their plan - Beckett - was complicated, to say the least, by the new plan to retrieve Jack. Elizabeth suspects that if it had been up to Rose alone, they’d have left him, but Elizabeth cannot quite shake the guilt she claims she doesn’t feel.

“The song has been sung,” Barbossa intones. “The time is upon us. We must convene the Brethren Court. As one of the nine pirate lords, you must honor the call.”

“More steam!” Sao Feng demands. “More steam! There is a price on all our heads. It seems the only way a pirate can turn a profit anymore is by betraying other pirates.”

“We must put our differences aside,” Barbossa insists. “The First Brethren Court gave us rule of the seas. But now that rule is being challenged by Lord Cutler Beckett.”

 _Right_ , Elizabeth thinks, _that’s why we’re here. If we really want to get to Beckett, the bloody pirates have to play nice with one another._

“Against the East India Trading Company, what value is the Brethren Court?” Sao Feng asks. “What can any of us do?”

“You can fight!” Elizabeth exclaims, shaking off the guard pawing at her. “You are Sao Feng, the Pirate Lord of Singapore. You command in an age of piracy where bold captains sail free waters. Where waves aren’t measured in feet, but as increments of fear, and those who pass the test become legend. Would you have that era come to an end on your watch? The most notorious pirates from around the world are uniting against our enemy, and yet you sit here cowering in your bathwater!”

“Elizaeth Swann,” Sao Feng steps in front of her.

She spares a brief moment to wonder at the fact he knows her name.

“There is more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there?” His gaze travels hungrily across her body; she suppresses a shudder. “And the eye does not go wanting. But I cannot help but notice,” he points at Barbossa, “you have failed to answer my question. What is it you seek in Davy Jones’ Locker?”

“Jack Sparrow,” Will pipes up. “He’s one of the pirate lords.”

“The only reason,” Sao Feng says, low and dangerous, “I would save Jack Sparrow from the Locker is so I can send him back myself!”

Barbossa moves right up into Sao Feng’s space. “Jack Sparrow holds one of the nine pieces of eight. He failed to pass it along to a successor before he died. So we must go and get him back.”

Sao Feng’s eyes drift briefly to the side. “So you admit you have deceived me. Weapons!”

Steel sings as swords are drawn all around the room, accompanied by the click of pistols and rifles cocking.

“Sao Feng, I assure, our intentions are strictly honorable,” Barbossa protests, a mere moment before their swords are thrown up through the cracks in the floor.

Sao Feng grabs the boy against the pillar near him. “Drop your weapons or I kill the man!”

Elizabeth glances curiously at Barbossa.

“Kill him,” Barbossa says. “He’s not our man.”

“If he’s not with you,” Will reasons, “and he’s not with us… who’s he with?”

BANG!

Soldiers pour through the walls, and Elizabeth loses herself in the blur of the fight. She spares the briefest thought to the hope that James isn’t among the soldiers - there are so very few who know he’s on their side.


	3. Rose

Hector Barbossa. Jack Sparrow. Sao Feng. Ammand the corsair. Capitaine Chevalle. Sri Sumbhajee. Mistress Ching. Gentleman Jocard. Captain Vallenueva. 

The nine Pirate Lords of the Brethren Court. The song has been sung. They must gather. And it falls to Rose to gather them. 

Barbossa volunteers to go to Sao Feng - he seems to think the Lord of Singapore will be the easiest to wheedle a ship from. He will send Sao Feng toward Shipwreck Cove, then go after Jack. 

Rose volunteers to track down the remaining six Lords. 

She charts a course, sweet talks Teague into lending her his ship and crew, and sets out.


	4. James

James finds himself rather more surly than he was before, and certainly can’t summon the will to act enthusiastic about being called for like a pet.

“Ah, admiral,” Beckett greets him as James steps into the room.

“You summoned me, Lord Beckett?” James manages. 

“Yes,” Beckett nods. “Something for you there.”

James’ head turns and he spies a familiar box on the side table.

“Your new station deserves an old friend.”

James doesn’t have to fake the reverence with which he opens the box and unsheathes the sword. Turner always was an excellent craftsman, and he’s willing to admit he had loathed the loss of this sword. He barely registers a comment made about an execution order on the other side of the room.

“The Brethren know they face extinction,” Beckett goes on. 

James frowns, thoughts going to Rose and Elizabeth.

“All that remains is for them to decide where they make their final stand.”

James makes eye contact with Governor Swann, a brief, unspoken worry passing between them. He makes it back to his quarters before he stumbles to his knees and prays to God and begs any other deities he can think of for favor over Rose and her companions. Then he starts planning contingencies.

***

It says something about his mental state, James is sure, that taking Jones’ heart aboard the  _ Dutchman  _ is the least distasteful, in his mind, of things Beckett has asked him to do.

“Go!” Jones demands. “All of you. And take that infernal thing with you! I will not have it on my ship!”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Beckett winds his way through the soldiers, “because I will. Because it seems to be the only way to ensure that this ship do as directed by the company.”

James follows the directive to move the chest below decks, and places armed guards around it.


	5. Elizabeth

“How long do we continue not talking?” Will asks Elizabeth gently, the second night out of the infernal cold, as she’s gazing at the starlit sky above.

“Once we rescue Jack, everything will be fine,” she responds.

“Then we rescue Jack,” Will says.

She thinks, for the thousandth time, that she should explain their plans to Will but when she looks at him, she sees something in his expression that she can’t quite read, and doesn’t have the heart to decipher. She flees, and before anyone can think to stop it, they’re sailing over the end of the world.

She’s surprised, pleasantly she thinks, when they wash up on a shore, alive. 

“This truly is a godforsaken place,” Gibbs mutters, tipping his flask over and finding the rum gone.

“I don’t see Jack,” Elizabeth laments. “I don’t see anyone.”

“He’s here.” Barbossa calls. “Davy Jones never once gave up that what he took.”

“Does it matter? Will asks. “We’re trapped here by your doing. No different than Jack.”

“Witty Jack is closer than you t’ink,” Tia Dalma tells them, gently stroking some kind of crab.

Mere seconds later, the _Pearl_ crests a sand dune, Jack on the topmast.

“Slap me thrice and hand me to me mama,” Gibbs curses merrily. “It’s Jack!”

Elizabeth smiles and starts forward before she catches herself and stumbles back. Guilt crashes over her at the sight of the disreputable pirate, the man who was, for all intents and purposes, her friend. The man she killed. 

Jack comes ashore and starts babbling nonsense - more nonsense than usual.

“He thinks we’re a hallucination,” Will deduces.

“Jack,” Elizabeth finally steps forward, forcing words past her guilt. “This is real. We’re here.”

Jack makes a face, then shuffles back to Gibbs.

Elizabeth wishes that Rose was there. The other woman would likely just slap Jack silly and put an end to all this. She takes a few steps forward. “We’ve come to rescue you!”

“Have you now?” Jack comes back toward her. “But it would seem that as I possess a ship and you don’t, you’re the ones in need of rescuing, and I’m not sure as I’m in the mood.”

“I see my ship, right there,” Barbossa interjects.

“Must be a tiny thing behind the _Pearl_ ,” Jack snarks back.

“Cutler Beckett has the heart of Davy Jones,” Will interrupts.

“He’s taking over the seas!” Elizabeth adds desperately.

“The song has already been sung,” Calypso says. “The Brethren Court is called.”

Jack grumbles about the world falling apart when he’s gone, trying to walk away from the lot of them.

“The world needs you back,” Gibbs pleads.

“And you need a crew,” Will adds.

“And why should I sail with any of you? Five of you have tried to kill me in the past! Two of you succeeded! No, four and one… five and… oh, bloody!” He shifts his gaze to Elizabeth. “Where be the other merry murderess?”

Elizabeth gapes and stutters when Will spins on her.

“Oh,” Jack smirks. “She’s not told you.”

***

Will finds her below decks. “You left Jack to the kraken.”

Elizabeth stares straight ahead. “He’s rescued now, it’s done with.”

Will turns away.

Elizabeth shoots to her feet. “Will, we had no choice!”

“We? Ah, Rose, then? But you chose not to tell me.”

Elizabeth almost says she couldn’t tell him, then thinks better of it. “There was no good time to tell you. The original plan was to save you, then you were there, and the rest of the plan… it wasn’t your burden to bear.”

Will steps closer to her. “But I did bear it, didn’t I? I just didn’t know what it was. I thought…” He trails off.

Understanding dawns. “You thought I loved him!” She turns to flee, but he grasps her shoulders.

“If you make your choices alone, how can I trust you?”

“You can’t,” she whispers. Part of her wants to flee, but she fights it and looks up into Will’s eyes. “Let me at least try.”

“How?”

“We’ve a plan. We need your help, but we… James tried to tell you, I think, on Isla Cruces. Let me tell you now.”

***

“There was a chest, you see. At the time it seemed so important. And a heart. I learned that if you stab the heart, yours must take its place. And you will sail the seas for eternity. The _Dutchman_ must have a captain.”

***

Elizabeth can honestly say she would have been surprised when Sao Feng takes the _Pearl_ , but Will had already told her of his deal. A deal that she is nothing short of furious about, but also understands. Nevertheless, they can work it to their advantage, she thinks. And then Beckett’s men board, and she can’t help but think that Rose is going to be very cross with them for mucking up her plans. Then Barbossa mentions Calypso, and Elizabeth thinks that they’re in over their heads.

***

Elizabeth decides Sao Feng is mad the moment she realizes he believes _her_ to be Calypso, but at this point, she will take any advantage she can get.

“They bound you to human form,” Sao Feng rants, “so the rule of the seas would belong to man and not-”

“To me,” Elizabeth says, nodding slightly.

“But one such as you should never be anything less than what you are.”

“Pretty speech from a captor,” Elizabeth chastises. “But words whispered through prison bars lose their charm.”

“Can I be blamed for my efforts?” Sao Feng moves in front of her. “All me are drawn to the sea, perilous though it may be.”

“And some men offer desire as justification for their crimes.”

“I offer simply my desire.”

“And in return?”

“I would have your gifts, should you choose to give them.”

Elizabeth steps toward him, too incensed not to taunt him. “And if I should choose not?”

“Then I will take your fury,” Sao Feng descends on her, only backing away when she bites him.

Before he can approach again, canonfire rips through the hull. “Sao Feng?”

He gestures her over, unable to mov from where he fell, pierced through with a chunk of the splintered hull. “Here. Please.”

Elizabeth drops next to him.

He tears the pendant from around his neck and holds it out to her. “With all nine pieces of eight, you will be free. Take it!”

Elizabeth reaches for the bauble.

“You are captain now.”

“Me?”

Sao Feng’s hand flashes out, draws her close. “Go in my place to Shipwreck Cove.”

Tai Huang stumbles in. “Captain! The ship is taken! We cannot…” 

“Forgive me, Calypso,” Sao Feng breathes.

“Sao?”

“What did he tell you?” Tai demands.

Elizabeth stands. “He made me captain.”

Tai flees back up to the deck, Elizabeth on his heels, only to be grabbed by soldiers the second they’re in open air.

“You are not my captain,” Tai snarls at her.

“Elizabeth!”

Elizabeth jerks at James’ voice, tearing herself away from the soldier. “James! James!” She descends the stairs in a daze.

He pulls her to him. “Thank God you’re alive.” He turns his face into her hair to whisper, “Rose?”

“Haven’t heard from her,” Elizabeth whispers back in a rush.

He releases her. “Your father will be overjoyed to know you’re safe.”

“My father’s dead.”

James looks as if she struck him. “No, that can’t be true. He returned to England.”

“Did Lord Beckett tell you that?” Elizabeth asks coldly.

“Who among you do you name as captain?” Jones shouts, breaking the moment.

“Captain. Her,” Tai points at Elizabeth, the rest of the crew immediately following suit.

James looks confused.

“Captain?” Jones hobbles toward her.

“Tow the ship,” James interrupts. “Put the prisoners in the brig. The captain shall have my quarters.”

“Thank you, sir, but I prefer to remain with my crew.” Elizabeth tries to use her expression to remind James how important it is for them to have the pirates' loyalty, for their plan to work.

“Elizabeth,” James offers a token protest, though she can see in his eyes he understands. He does jerk forward long enough to grab her arm. “I swear… I did not know.”

Elizabeth jerks away to stand with her crew.

The moment they’re in the brig, she starts asking after Will’s father. It doesn’t take long for a pirate embedded in the wall to answer. It takes even less time to realize there is little of the man’s mind left, and her heart breaks for Will. 

“If Jones be slain, he who slays him must take his place. Captain… forever. The Dutchman must always have a captain.” It’s the second time she’s heard the warning now, and she prays she is reunited with Rose soon enough to relay it.


	6. Rose

Rose makes her way to Teague’s as soon as they dock in Shipwreck Cove, trusting his crew to properly secure the ship. She knocks on his door, waits a beat, and pushes it open when a voice from within bids her enter. 

“Tracked down all the wayward Pirate Lords, then?” Teague greets her with a nod, and sets a kettle on the stove in the corner. “How was me crew?”

“Aye.” Rose rolls her eyes. “And your crewmen were near perfection, as always.”

“Near?”

Rose shrugs. “I may have keel hauled one man. Most of your crew respects and fears you too much to dare disrespect anyone you hand the helm to, even a woman, but there’s always one.”

“Who do I need to be replacin’, then?”

Rose waves vaguely. “Man’s name was Miller… or Hill? Something rather unextraordinary. I poached a rather brilliant young corsair from Ammand to replace him.”

Teague salutes her with his teacup in silent acceptance, then offers her another cup.

Rose accepts it and settles into her favorite deep armchair in front of the cold hearth. 

Teague settles in his own chair across from her. “Seen Jackie lately, luv? Don’t think I didn’t notice he wasn’t on the list of those you were set to retrieve.”

Rose flinches guiltily.

Teague raises his brow expectantly.

Rose raises one of her hands in front of herself defensively. “Before you shoot me, someone is already in the process of saving him.”

Teague sighs. “You know I’d never shoot you, lass.”

“Even if I sent your son to the Locker?”

Teague  _ almost _ looks surprised, but instead just heaves another deep sigh. “What’d he get himself into?”

“More than he could handle.”

“So you cursed him to his own fate so you could save him?”

Rose shrugs. “Something like that.”

A comfortable silence falls between them. Rose finds herself fiddling with the silver pendant hanging from her throat, thoughts on James.

“How did you manage to get yourself tied up in collecting Pirate Lords?”

Rose frowns into her tea. “When have I ever been able to stay out of things when Jack is involved?”

Teague hums thoughtfully.

Rose’s thoughts drift back to James.

“There’s somethin’ different ‘bout you, lass,” Teague observes.

Rose’s lips twist wryly and she tucks the pendant back into her shirt. “Do you remember the man I told you about?”

“The one you chased across the seas only to lose your nerve when your face got a bit mussed?”

“Bastard,” Rose accuses fondly. “Aye, that one.”

“You found him, then.”

Rose shrugs. “Aye. And then I sent him right back into the clutches of the enemy.”

“Lass, if he’s even half the man you’ve painted ‘im to be, he’ll come back to you.”

“You really think so?”

“You are a woman worth fightin’ for, lass. He’ll be back.”


	7. James

The moment he sees Elizabeth, he starts forming a plan to get her off the _Dutchman_. The opportunity presents itself sooner rather than later. Mullroy and Murtogg are on duty guarding the chest. Neither is an intelligent man, but they are loyal, and it is plain as day to him that they are not comfortable aboard the _Dutchman_ , or with the actions of the East India Trading Company.

“Gentleman,” he greets. “I have a proposal.” He walks back out of the room with Jones’ heart beating against his ribs once more, and sends a different pair of soldiers to guard the chest on his way down to the brig.

Elizabeth glares at him haughtily as he opens the door. “Come with me. Quickly!”

Elizabeth nods to her crew.

The crew scrambles out quietly.

“What are you doing?”

“Changing the plan,” James tells her. Mullroy and Murtogg are waiting for them, as James instructed. “They’re with me,” he reassures.

The tow ropes make it easy enough to get the crew from ship to ship.

“We have to get to Shipwreck Cove quickly. Beckett knows of the meeting of the Brethren,” James warns her. “I fear we have a traitor.”

Elizabeth nods. “Come along. Rose will never forgive me if I leave you on this cursed vessel to die.”

Mullroy and Murtogg mount the ropes. James and Elizabeth are the last aboard when Bootstrap shouts down at them. They work in tandem to cut the tow ropes, then grab the last two and cut those as well, dropping into the sea.


	8. Will

“Jack Sparrow sends his regards,” Will can’t help needling Jones.

“Sparrow?” Jones spits.

Will glances innocently at Beckett. “You didn’t tell him?” He glances back up at Jones. “We rescued Jack from the Locker along with the _Black Pearl_.”

“What else have you not told me?” Jones demands.

Beckett shakes his head. “There is an issue far more troublesome.” He stands. “I believe you’re familiar with a person called Calypso.”

Jones looks as if he was struck. “Not a person. A heathen god. One who delights in cursing me with their wildest dreams and then revealing them to be hollow and naught but ash. The world is well rid of her.”

“Not quite so well, actually,” Will sips his tea. “The Brethren Court intends to release her.”

“No!” Jones exclaims. “They cannot! The First Court promised to imprison her forever! That was our agreement!”

“Your agreement?” Beckett asks.

Jones looks away. “I showed them how to bind her. She could not be trusted. I… she gave me no choice. We must act before they release her.”

The wheels in Will’s head turn, an eerie lullaby echoing in the back of his mind. “You loved her.”

Jones rounds on him.

Will meets his gaze unflinchingly. “She’s the one. And then you betrayed her.”

“She pretended to love me.” Jones stalks toward Will. “ _She_ betrayed _me_.”

Will sips his tea, likely enjoying taunting the curse captain far more than strictly necessary, then stands. “And after which betrayal did you cut out your heart, I wonder?”

Jones knocks the teacup from his hands. “Do not test me.”

Wills sighs, looking at the cup shattered on the floor. “I hadn’t finished that.” He turns back to Jones. “You will free my father.” He walks past Jones, toward Beckett. “And you will guarantee Elizabeth’s safety. Along with my own.”

“Your terms are steep, Mr. Turner,” Beckett drolls. “We will expect fair value in return.”

“There is only one price I will accept,” Jones snarls. “Calypso murdered.”

Will shrugs. “Calypso’s aboard the _Black Pearl_. Jack has sailed the _Black Pearl_ to Shipwreck Cove.”

“And with you no longer aboard her, how do you propose to lead us there?” Beckett asks.

Jones steps into his space again. Will pretends to hesitate. He has been leery, when Elizabeth explained their plan to take back the seas, and enlisted Will to play at betraying them and lead Beckett to Shipwreck Cove. How she knew Jack would give him the compass is something he will likely never fathom.

Still, this is the plan to which they all agreed and he will play his part. He pulls the compass from his belt, dangling it from his finger right in front of Beckett’s nose. “What is it you want most?


	9. Rose

Barbossa slams a cannonball on the table. “As he who issued summons, I convene this, the Fourth Brethren Court,” he calls over the din. The Pirate Lords exchange distrustful looks but quiet down, taking their seats. Barbossa waves at Ragetti. “To confirm your lordship and right to be heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow cap’ns.”

Rose snickers into her sleeve when Barbossa knocks Ragetti’s false eye out.

“Sparrow!” Vallenueva calls.

Jack hurries forward. “Might I point out that we are still short on Pirate Lord, and I’m as content as a susumber to wait until Sao Feng joins us.”

“Sao Feng is dead,” Elizabeth’s voice rings out.

Rose almost collapses in relief at the sight of James at the other woman’s shoulder. He locks eyes with her and, when she smiles, skirts the rooms to stand at her side. She reaches down and twines her fingers with his.

“What’s Norrington doin’ here?” Gibbs demands.

A stillness goes over the room - many of these pirates have sailed the Caribbean, and the former commodore’s name is well known among them.

“He’s with me,” Rose says, tone and expression daring anyone to speak out against her. No one does. She nods to Elizabeth.

“He fell to the _Flying Dutchman_ ,” Elizabeth continues.

The Pirate Lords start to clamor as Elizabeth adds her sword to the globe.

“He made you captain?” Jack exclaims, dark eyes flicking between Elizabeth and the sword, almost panicked. “They’re just giving the bloody title away now.”

“Listen! Listen to me!” Elizabeth calls. “Our location has been betrayed.”

“No need to mention that was by design,” James mutters, low enough that only Rose could possibly hear.

She turns her face into his shoulder to hide her amusement.

“Jones is under the command of Lord Beckett,” Elizabeth announces. “They’re on their way here.”

“Who is this betrayer?” Someone demands.

“Not likely anyone among us,” Barbossa reassures.

“Where’s Will?” Elizabeth asks quietly, keeping up the facade.

“Not among us,” Jack answers.

“It matters not how they found us,” Barbossa expounds. “The question is, what will we do now that they have?”

“We fight!” Elizabeth cries.

The Pirate Lords laugh.

“Shipwreck Cove is a fortress,” Mistress Ching argues. “A well-supplied fortress. There is no need to fight if they cannot get to us.”

Murmurs of agreement ripple through the room.

“There be a third course,” Barbossa offers. “In another age, at this very spot, the First Brethren Court captured the sea goddess and bound her in her bones. That was a mistake. Oh, we tamed the seas for ourselves, aye. But opened the door to Beckett and his ilk! Better were the days when mastery of seas came not from bargain struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man’s brow and the strength of his back alone.”

“Eloquent,” James mumbles.

“I’ve always believed he would’ve been a noble, given another lot in life,” Rose agrees.

“You all know this to be true!” Barbossa nearly shouts. “Gentlemen. Ladies. We must free Calypso.”

Silence, then outrage.

“Bloody hell,” James curses. “This is a meeting of Lords?”

Rose shrugs. “Pirates.”

“They must agree to fight,” James tells her quietly. 

Rose looks up at him curiously.

“The tide will turn in their favor.” He lowers his head so his lips brush her ear. “We have the heart.”

“This is madness,” Elizabeth determines.

“This is politics,” Jack argues.

“Meanwhile, our enemies are bearing down upon us.”

“If they not be here already,” Barbossa agrees. He climbs atop the table and fires his pistol. “It was the First Court what imprisoned Calypso. We should be the ones to set her free. And in her gratitude, she will see fit to grant us boons.”

“Whose boons?” Jack pipes up. “Your boons? Utterly deceptive twaddle-speak, says I.”

“If you have a better alternative, please, share.”

“Cuttlefish. Aye.” Jack starts making his way around the table. “Let us not forget, dear friends, our dear friends, the cuttlefish. Flipping glorious little sausages.”

“Why are you friends with him, again?” James asks.

Rose grimaces. “I don’t know that friends is the word I would use.”

“Pen them up together,” Jack carries on, “they’ll devour each other without a second thought. Human nature, isn’t it? Or… or fish nature. So yes, we could hole up here well-provisioned and well-armed and half of us would be dead within the month. Which seems quite grim to me, any way you slice it. Or… uh… as my learned colleague so naivel suggests, we can release Calypso, and we can pray that she will be merciful. I rather doubt it. Can we in fact pretend she’s anything other than a woman scorned like which fury hell hath no? We cannot. _Res ipsa loquitur, tabula in naufragio_. We are left with but one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of me mouth...Captain Swann. We must fight.”

Elizabeth almost smiles.

“You’ve always run away from a fight!” Barbossa accuses.

“Have not!” Jack protests. 

“Have so!”

“Have not!”

“Have so!”

“Have not!”

“You have so, and you know it!”

“Have not. Slander and calumny. I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here now that is what we all must do: We must fight…” he jerks his thumb over his shoulder, “to run away.”

A round of ‘aye’s’ chorus through the room. 

“As per the code,” Barbossa says smugly, “an act of war, and this be exactly that, can only be ordered by the Pirate King.”

“You made that up!” Jack says.

“Did I now?” Hector grins. “I call on Cap’n Teague, keeper of the Code.”


	10. James

Jack’s face drops, shoulders tensing.

Rose snickers.

James looks at her expectantly.

Rose shakes her head.

“Hang the code!” A pirate lackey declares. A shot rings out and he falls.

Rose’s grin grows.

“I fear for my future well being that you smile at a man being shot.”

“You would never disrespect the Code, my love,” Rose winks at him.

“Code is law,” Teague announces calmly, blowing smoke off the end of his pistol.

James’ jaw drops.

“Jack’s father,” Rose confirms, when he looks down at her searchingly.

Teague strides up behind Jack. “You’re in my way, boy.”

Jack shuffles wordlessly to the side.

James smirks. “I believe I find myself in danger of actually _liking_ a pirate.”

Rose smirks back. “Teague does have a way about him.”

The book slams open, and a few moments later, Teague announces, “Barbossa is right.”

“Hang on a minute,” Jack shoves his way in front of the book. “‘It shall be the duties, as the King, to declare war, parley with shared adversaries…’ fancy that.”

“There has not been a King since the First Court.” Chevalle points out. “And that’s not likely to change.”

“Not likely,” Teague agrees.

“Why not?” Elizabeth asks.

“See, the Pirate King is elected by popular vote,” Gibbs explains.

“And each pirate only ever votes for hisself,” Barbossa finishes.

“I call for a vote!” Jack announces cheerfully.

“I vote for Ammand the corsair!”

“Capitaine Chevalle, the penniless Frenchman.”

“Sri Sumbhajee votes for Sri Sumbhajee.”

“Mistress Ching!”

“Gentleman Jocard.”

“Elizabeth Swann.”

“Barbossa.”

“Vallenueva!”

In the midst of the ‘voting’ James sees Rose catche Jack’s eye, and look pointedly to Elizabeth.

Jack, for once, doesn’t even put up a token fight. “Elizabeth Swann.”

“What?” Elizabeth exclaims.

“I know,” Jack smirks. “Curious, isn’t it?”

Everyone starts arguing.

“Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the Code then?” Jack asks.

One of Teague’s guitar strings breaks and everyone falls silent, most returning to their seats.

Mistress Ching remains standing. “Very well. What say you, Captain Swann, King of the Brethren Court?”

Elizabeth glances back, briefly, and meets Rose’s eyes.

Rose nods.

“Prepare every vessel that floats,” Elizabeth commands. “At dawn, we’re at war.”


	11. Rose

Rose squeezes James’ hand. “Stay with Elizabeth, I’ll be right back.” She makes her way around the outskirts of the room toward Teague, skirting up near him at the same moment Jack turns to his father.

“What?” Jack asks. “You’ve seen it all, done it all. You survived. That’s the trick, innit? To survive?”

“It’s not just about living forever, Jackie.” Teague stands. “The trick is living with yourself forever.”

Jack nods slowly. “How’s Mum?”

Teague holds up a shrunken skull.

“She looks great,” Jack manages awkwardly before making his excuses and scrambling away.

“Girl,” Teague greets without looking her way.

Rose steps up next to him and kisses his cheek. “One of these days, you really ought to tell him his Mum is buried in England.”

Teague looks down at her, eyes twinkling. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Rose chuckles. “Fair enough.”

“How is he?”

Rose nods. “Well enough.”

“Your young man’s watching you, Rosie.”

Rose turns and finds James’ eyes on her and smiles before turning back to Teague.

Teague rolls her eyes. “Use my cabin. You’ll not be needed until the dawn.”

Rose smacks another kiss on his cheek. “Have I ever mentioned that you’re my favorite pirate?”

Teague smirks. “Aye. I expect an introduction once this is all over.”

Rose winks. “As you wish.”

She makes her way back to James, then tugs him out of the crowded meeting hall. He follows her through the winding boardwalks of Shipwreck Cove silently. He raises his brow when she lets herself into a small, sturdy, low lit cabin not far from the docks.

“Teague’s,” she offers at James’ curious expression.

“You’re awfully familiar with him.”

Rose shrugs as James allows her to manhandle him toward the bed. “He’s got a soft spot for me is all.”

James pulls her back onto the bed with him, pulling her to straddle his lap as he settles his back against the headboard. “Rose.”

Rose sighs and settles her hands on his shoulders, idly stroking the ends of his hair. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Call it idle curiosity, but I would very much like to know how you gained such favor from one of the most notorious pirates in the world.”

Rose’s lips twist ruefully. “Do you know why Teague became a pirate?”

James frowns. “Has he not always been?”

Rose laughs. “He would have the world think so. Let’s try a different tact, shall we? Do you know why Jack was branded a pirate?”

“An unfortunate dealing the East India Trading Company.”

Rose’s smile is sad. “When Jack first took to the seas, he was an honest merchant.”

James scoffs, then immediately sobers. “You’re serious.”

Rose nods. “He’s always been a clever sort. He was sixteen, I believe, when he first sailed his own ship. He was not quite nineteen when he freed a shipful of slaves. Beckett charged him with stealing cargo and branded him a pirate.”

“I… God in heaven, truly?”

Rose swallows past the tears the story always draws from her. “Aye. He’s eccentric, to be sure, but Jack has always been a good man. Teague… when he heard tell of his son’s plight, he sold his estate in England and he bought a ship. The madder Jack’s reputation grew, the more vicious Teague’s reputation grew until no one quite remembered that he had not always been a pirate.”

“Teague became a pirate to protect his son,” James surmises.

Rose nods. “As a pirate, he could protect Jack in a manner that was not permissible in the world of honest men.”

James drops his head to hers. “The longer I am in this world of pirates, the more honest it seems than that world of supposedly honest men.”

“Aye,” Rose agrees. “Teague was the first person I met in Tortuga, after that ship rescued me from the island. He took pity on the noble girl fleeing the duality of so-called honest men. He looks out for me as much as he does Jack. Possibly more, on account of my being a woman. I daresay he’s done a sight better job of it than my own father ever did. And he does so without judgement.”

James smirks. “You mean like offering his cabin so that you might share a bed with a man to whom you are not wed?”

Rose snorts indelicately. “Just like,” she agrees, lowering her lips to his.


	12. Elizabeth

When they planned to draw the enemy to them, they did not expect an armada. Elizabeth would be lying if she did not claim the panic that flares up in her, but she does not let it show. When she looks to Rose, though, the other woman looks as calm as ever.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Elizabeth hisses.

Rose leans close to whisper in her ear.

Elizabeth feels a calm settle over her. Relief joins the calm when she sees Will hale and whole next to Beckett.

Rose tucks her arm into Jack’s as they’re walking up the small sandbar, and Elizabeth sees her tuck a bit of parchment into his pocket. “You trust me?”

Jack flits his eyes down to her briefly. “You know the answer to that.”

“I know what you did.”

Jack stumbles.

“Trust me now. Go along with it. We’ll get you back.” She steps away, closer to Elizabeth, before Jack can question her further. Elizabeth can practically feel the tension rolling off the other woman.

Beckett raises an eyebrow at their small landing party but before he can speak, Barbossa is snarling at Will, “You be the cur that led these wolves to our door!”

“Don’t blame Turner. He was merely the tool of your betrayal. If you wish to see its grand architect, look to your left.”

Barbossa glares at Jack while Elizabeth smirks past him at Rose.

“My hands are clean in this!” Jack protests. “Figuratively.”

“My actions were my own and to my own purpose.” Will states. “Jack had nothing to do with it.”

“Well spoken!” Jack exclaims. “Listen to the tool.”

“Will, I’ve been aboard the _Dutchman_ ,” Elizabeth tells her fiance. “I understand the burden you bear, but I fear that cause is lost.”

“No cause is lost,” Will argues, “if there is but one fool left to fight for it.”

She curses, silently, wishing she could tell him aloud that they have the means to free his father without him sacrificing himself.

“If Turner wasn’t acting on your behalf,” Beckett interrupts her thoughts, “then how did he come to give me this?” Beckett holds up Jack’s compass. “You made a deal with me, Jack, to deliver the pirates. And here they are.” Beckett tosses the compass back. “Don’t be bashful. Step up. Claim your reward.”

“Your debt to me is still to be satisfied,” Jones interjects. “One hundred years in servitude aboard the _Dutchman_. As a start.”

“That debt was paid, mate,” Jack argues, gesturing vaguely to Elizabeth. “With some help.”

“You escaped.

“Technically-”

“I propose an exchange,” Elizabeth cuts him off. “Will leaves with us… and you can take Jack.”

“Done!” Will agrees.

“Undone!” Jack says. Rose jabs him in the back.

“Done,” Beckett says. “Who’s hiding beneath their hat?”

“Jack’s one of the nine Pirate Lords. You have no right!” Barbossa argues.

“King,” Elizabeth reminds him smugly, then turns to Jack.

Jack takes his hat off and swoops into a bow. “As you command, your nibs.”

“Blackguard!” Barbossa exclaims, drawing his sword and slicing the beads from Jack’s headscarf. He steps right up into Jack’s space. “If ye have something to say, I might be saying something as well.”

“First to the finish, then?” Jack asks. 

“Do you fear death?” Jones asks.

“You’ve no idea.”

Beckett takes a couple steps forward. “Advise your Brethren, you can fight, and all of you will die. Or you can not fight, in which case only most of you will die.”

Elizabeth steps forward as well. “You murdered my father.”

“He chose his own fate.”

“And you have chosen yours,” Rose says, stepping forward, hands balled into fists at her sides.

“We will fight,” Elizabeth tells him. “And you will die.”

“I know that voice,” Beckett tilts his head toward Rose.

Rose lifts her head, so her hat is no longer blocking her face.

“Rosaleen?” Beckett looks as if he’s seen a ghost.

Rose smiles, sharp and predatory. “You really should have chosen less vengeful women to trifle with, Cutler.” Quicker than Elizabeth can track, one of Rose’s hands flashes out from her side, and Beckett stumbles back, clutching his cheek, blood seeping through his fingers. Elizabeth bites back a smirk when she sees the dagger in Rose’s hand.

“Something to remember me by,” Rose tells Beckett coldly.

They turn and walk away.

“‘Something to remember me by’?” Elizabeth asks in an undertone.

Rose shrugs, “What he told me when he…” She trails off and gestures to her own face.

Elizabeth reaches out and squeezes her hand in silent understanding.

“King?” Will asks.

“Of the Brethren Court.” Elizabeth grins. “Courtesy of Jack.”

“Maybe he really does know what he’s doing.”


	13. Jack

Jack is promptly thrown into the brig aboard the _Dutchman_.

He tucks his hands into his pockets, feeling about for anything useful or entertaining, and his fingers brush parchment. He draws out a small, folded square. Rose’s handwriting greets him when he unfolds it.

_We have the heart._

_Si vis pacem, para bellum._

_-Rose_


	14. Rose

“We’ll need to use the _Black Pearl_ as a flagship to lead the attack,” Elizabeth says as they’re boarding the _Pearl_.

“Oh, will we now?” Barbssa asks, as a number of the crew lead Calypso onto the deck, bound tightly.

“Barbossa, you can’t release her!” Will objects until someone puts a pistol to his head.

“We need to give Jack a chance!” Elizabeth says.

“Apologies, Your Majesty. Too long has my fate not been in me own hands.” He reaches for Elizabeth’s necklace, only to find it gone.

“Looking for this?” Rose asks, holding the bauble over the railing, James at her back, sword and pistol at the ready, should anyone try to come too close.

Barbossa holds a placating hand out to her. “Now, Miss Rose…”

Rose raises her brow. “You are often not very good at listening, Hector Barbossa, and we are short on time, so I suggest you listen well to me now. Are you listening?”

Barbossa nods.

“Good,” Rose smiles. “If I drop this, Calypso is forever bound in her human form, and no Court will ever be able to free her. I am not opposed to freeing her, but I refuse to free her merely on the hope of her goodwill as you intend to.” She slips the necklace over her head and draws a dagger from her waist, then moves to stand in front of Calypso. “Do you understand what I offer you?”

Calypso nods. “Freedom, for favor.”

“Aye.”

“A risk, still.”

“Not if it is bound in blood.”

Calypso’s eyes go wide, then she smiles, an eerie, haunting thing, and she nods.

Rose places the necklace in the bowl, then she reaches for Calypso’s hand. Her dagger slices the human-bound goddesses’ palm over the bowl, letting her blood trickle over the talismans, before cutting her own palm and adding her own blood to the mix. Only then does she nod to Barbossa. “Carry on.”

“Be there some manner of rite or incantation?” Gibbs asks.

“Aye,” Barbossa confirms. “The items brought together, done. Items to be burned,” someone hands him a torch, “and someone must speak the words: ‘Calypso, I release you from your human bonds.’”

“Is that it?” Pintel asks. 

“‘Tis said it must be spoken as if to a lover.”

“Then what was all that ‘bout the blood?”

Rose rolls her eyes. “The blood was to guarantee she does not turn her fury on us.”

“Calypso, I release you from your human bonds!” Barbossa announces, then sets the torch to the bowl. Nothing happens.

Rose snickers. “Is that how you talk to your lovers?”

“He didn’t say it right,” Ragetti agrees, a bit stuttery. “You have to say it right.” He shuffles forward, clearly nervous, and caresses Calypso’s dreads, leaning in close. “Calypso, I release you from your human bonds.”

The bowl goes up in flames. Calypso inhales the smoke.

Rose steps in front of her. “Calypso.”

The woman’s eyes snap open.

“Stand with us against our enemies today, and I will ensure that Jones and the _Dutchman_ return to the task you set them.”

The goddesses head tilts to the side. “Who ‘re you, to have this pow’r?”

Rose leans in close. “I hold the heart of Davy Jones, and I will guard it for you, this I swear.” She pulls back, so all can hear her. “Do we have an accord?”

“Name our enemies.”

“The East India Trading Company pollutes the waters and crowds the seas. They oppress those who sail for love of the oceans.”

The sea goddess grows, ropes snapping and mast nearly being torn from the deck.

Rose yells up at her. “We are servants of the sea! Unleash your fury on those who dare call themselves its masters!”

Calypso shouts back, fury palpable, before she shifts and falls in waves back into the sea.

“Is that it?” Will asks.

“For now,” Rose says as the wind begins to whip around them.

Elizabeth looks out over the water. “It’s not over.”

“There’s still a fight to be had,” Will agrees.

“We’ve an armada against us,” Gibbs reminds them, as if they could forget, and with the _Dutchman_ , there’s no chance.”

“There’s only a fool’s chance,” Elizabeth corrects.

“Revenge won’t bring your father back, Miss Swann,” Barbossa tells her, “and it’s not something I’m intending to die for.”

Rose scoffs. “If it was about revenge, Barbossa, Elizabeth or I could have shot him on that damn sandbar and been done with it.”

“What shall we die for, then? Elizabeth asks. “You will listen to me. Listen!” She hauls herself up onto the railing. “The Brethren will still be looking here to us, to the _Black Pearl_ , to lead. And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No. No, they will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons! They will hear the ring of our swords, and they will know what we can do!” She glances down at Barbossa. “By the sweat of our brows , and the strength of our backs, and the courage of our hearts! Gentlemen… hoist the colors.”

Rose joins Elizabeth, Will, and Barbossa on the steering deck as flags of all colors rise across their motley armada.

When it starts to rain, Elizabeth turns to Rose. “How long will it take Jack, do you think?”

Rose shrugs. “However long it takes him to get himself out of the brig, I suppose.”


	15. Jack

Jack paces his cell. “Think like the whelp, think like the whelp, think like the whelp. Hinges. Hinges. Think like the whelp. Hinges. Half-barrel hinges. Leverage!”

It’s infinitely easier, even amidst the cannon fire, to get himself to the main deck instead of trying to fetch that damnable chest. Jones reaches the deck the same moment as Jack.

Jones laughs. “Lookie here, boys. A lost bird. A lost bird that never learned to fly.”

“To my great regret,” Jack agrees. “I’ve a message for you!”

“Oh?” Jones asks, tilting his head curiously.

“Aye” Jack nods. “‘t was… uh,oh! Right! Thump thump. Yer heart ain’t in the chest, mate. Rosie-girl has it.”

Jones frowns and snaps at one of the crew to retrieve the chest. When they open it, it is, sure enough, empty.

“Huh,” Jack chuckles. “The wench was tellin’ the truth. Now, here’s how this is gonna go, mate…”


	16. Will

Will catches a glimpse of Elizabeth over his shoulder, and finds himself momentarily stunned at her beauty. It’s not a new revelation, but the fierceness she fights with shows it in a different light.

“Elizabeth!” Will calls, then has to dodge a blow from one of Jones’ crew. They spin, and stab him together. “Elizabeth.” He grabs her arm. Will you marry me?”

They pull apart, blocking another blow as she looks at him as if he’s gone mad. “I don’t think now’s the best time!”

“Now be the only time!” Will argues, as they both continue to fight. They manage to get within arms reach again for a moment. “I love you.” More fighting. “I’ve made my decision. What’s yours?”

Elizabeth grasps his arms tightly. “Barbossa!” She looks up to the steering deck. “Marry us!”

“I’m a little busy at the moment!” Barbossa shouts back.

They separate again, briefly.

“Barbossa, now!” Will insists.


	17. Rose

“Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today… To nail your gizzards to the mast, you poxy cur!” is a phrase that Rose will go to her grave swearing one would only hear in the midst of a pirate wedding. Trust Elizabeth to decide to get married in the midst of a battle. She sets herself to trying to keep as much of the fight away from them for as long as she can. She sheathes her sword and dives for a fishhook rolling across the deck. A staff was the first weapon she learned to fight with, and it’s still her best.

The fight feels as if it goes on for an eternity before Jack manages to swing over aboard the _Pearl_.

Rose slaps him as hard as she can. “Took you long enough!”

Jack rubs his cheek ruefully and shrugs.

“Do we have an understanding?”

“Aye, lass. Jones’ll play your game.”

As if to prove his voice, Jones’ voice rings out over the storm, calling the crew back to the _Dutchman_. 

And suddenly, it’s silent, other than the storm.

“Barbossa!” Rose calls. “Get us out of the maelstrom!”

Barbossa acquiesces, even as he shouts at her. “What in the bloody hell is going on?”

Rose smirks. “The _Dutchman_ is under new command.”


	18. Groves

“What are they waiting for?” Lieutenant Groves asks.

“He expects us to honor our agreement,” Beckett observes idly. “Run out the cannons… It’s nothin personal, Jack. It’s just good business.”

The  _ Dutchman _ emerges.

Beckett grins. “Ah, she survived.”

The  _ Dutchman _ and the  _ Black Pearl _ turn in tandem, and Groves sees the panic set in on Cutler’s face.

Cutler closes his eyes. “Do you know the phrase, Lieutenant, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’?”

“Sir?”

“I fear I scorned two women that no man in his right mind should ever cross.”

Cannons start firing.

“Sir, orders!” Groves begs.

More men come, begging for a direction.

Groves gives up on Beckett. “Abandon ship!”


	19. James

They take down the _Endeavor_ , and the Navy armada flees. James finds he can’t quite manage to shove himself away from the railing, but his eyes scan the deck until he finds Rose’s familiar form. He’d seen her, during the battle, using a fishhook as a spear. He remembers thinking her a bit mad the first time he saw her fight with a sword. With a spear, though, it's not dissimilar to watching her dance. 

When his eyes find her now. she’s standing on the steering deck next to Barbossa, smiling. Her sword is in its scabbard, and she’s still holding the fishhook. There’s a small cut above her right eye bleeding sluggishly, and Barbossa is tying a scrap of cloth around a decent gash on her left arm, but she seems largely unharmed. Relief courses through him and he slumps more heavily against the railing.

“James!” Rose’s voice barks sharply.

James opens his eyes - when had he closed them? - and finds Rose hurrying down the steps and across the deck toward him. When she reaches him, she presses her hands up against his stomach and pain flares through him, jolting him back to awareness.

“Fuck!” James curses.

“Such language,” Rose chides.

He’s vaguely aware of his sword hitting the deck with a clatter as he looks down at her hands, stained red with his blood. “I don’t even recall…”

“You got stabbed in the gut, and you don’t recall?” 

He shakes his head.

Rose slaps him.

He jerks upright. “What the-?”

“Don’t you dare pass out on me.”

“I believe I’ve lost quite a bit of blood.”

Rose presses up against him, trapping her hands between them, and presses her lips to his.

He kisses back without a conscious thought, immediately distracted from the pain. 

She pulls back, resting her head against his. “Stay with me.”

He swallows and nods. “Always.”

“Master Gibbs!”

Gibbs appears at her shoulder. “Aye, Miss Rose?”

“Help me get him into my cabin, then start bringing me any other wounded.”

“Aye, Miss Rose.”

James bites his tongue so hard it nearly bleeds as they shuffle him across the deck, but manages to let out only a single grunt of pain when they deposit him on the bed. He drifts in and out of awareness as Rose sees to countless wounded, and when he finally comes fully back to consciousness, she’s at his side.

“Rose?” James croaks her name.

Rose shoots upright, the book in her lap falling to the floor, relief apparent in every line of her body. “James.”

He winces at the expression on her face. “How bad was it?”

Her eyes flutter closed. “Your wound started to fester. I had to cut some parts away and burn others, then restitch and bind it… I am afraid you’ll have a rather nasty scar.”

His hand shakes when he reaches out to grasp hers. “I could not possibly care less about a scar, Rose. I am still here. I am still with you.”

She brushes her lips across his knuckles. “Aye.”

He squeezes her hand.

She smiles tremulously and finally opens her eyes. “If you ever scare me like that again, James Norrington, I’ll kill you myself.”

James chuckles. “Not going to set one of your merry band of pirates on me?”

“Hmm?”

He grins up at her. “Surely you’ve realized these vagabonds jump at your every word.”

Rose shrugs. “They fear Teague’s reprisal if they cross me. And I’ve saved many of their lives.”

“Honor among thieves?”

“Something like that.”

“And how do you think I shall fare amongst thieves?”

Rose jerks in surprise. “You’re staying? James, no one in the Navy knows you betrayed Beckett or your post. You could go back to your life.”

James groans. He releases her hand and forces himself through the pain to sit up. He falls more than climbs out of the bed and kneels at her feet, taking both of her hands in his. “What part of ‘always’ do you not understand, you daft woman? Unless _you_ intend to return polite society, darling, I have no interest in it either.” He reaches up to brush a stray curl behind her ear, and gently caresses his thumb over the scar along her jaw. “I would much rather spend my days sailing with my wild English Rose.”


End file.
